Artillery fire from the Assad regime-controlled territory and airstrikes Saturday killed at least eight civilians in Syria's last opposition-held enclave, most of them children, and destroyed a civil defense center and a water station, rescue workers and a war monitor said.
The shelling in Ibleen, a village in southern Idlib province, hit the home of Subhi al-Assi, killing him, his wife and three of his children in their sleep, according to the rescue service known as the White Helmets and Idlib Health Directorate. Al-Assi was an administrator in a local health center.
Shelling also struck the home of a volunteer for the White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil Defense, killing his two children. The volunteer, Omar al-Omar, and his wife were wounded, according to the White Helmets. In a nearby village, another child was killed and four others from the same family were wounded, according to the White Helmets.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the shelling and casualties. The Observatory said the shelling was followed by airstrikes by suspected Russian warplanes that hit areas west of Idlib city. The White Helmets said one of its centers was targeted and destroyed in the air raid, putting it out of service. Five volunteers were slightly wounded. A water station in the area was also hit and put out of service, the White Helmets said.
Regime forces fired shells at the villages of Mashun, Iblin and Balyun in southern Idlib, violating a cease-fire deal in the de-escalation zone, Hassan al-Ahmad, media head of the White Helmets civil defense group, told Anadolu Agency.
According to the official, five civilians were killed in Iblin, two in Balyun, and one in Mashun.
Regime attacks on the de-escalation zone have escalated in recent months.
Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Over the past decade, around half a million people have been killed and more than 12 million had to flee their homes.
Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia in March 2020.
The Syrian regime, however, has consistently violated the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.
